GENOA – Arrests were made after it was revealed that one of the companies sub-contracted to demolish the Morandi Bridge, which collapsed last summer, was in the control of the Camorra, reported Il Fatto Quotidiano.

 Tecnodem, a demolition company based in Naples, was paid some 100,000 euros for the demolition which began in the last few weeks, but had been prevented from starting work when suspicions arose in May. A man and a woman have been arrested so far.

 Ferdinano Varlese, a 65-year old convict, is the administrator of the company and considered the de facto head of operations. He is thought to be “close to individuals in organised crime,” according to investigators. Consiglia Marigliano, the sole member of the company, is considered merely a front for his activities.

 It is thought the company was set-up to support the D’Amico clan, of the Villa di Napoli district, with whom Varlese has close ties. The current investigation was initiated by the Anti-Mafia Directorate of Genoa and is being carried out by the Anti-Mafia Investigative Agency (DIA).

 Recent developments will raise questions both about the presence of organised crime at very level of Italian society, and specifically how the Morandi case has been handled. When the bridge collapsed last August, killing 43 people, it raised serious questions about Italian infrastructure.

 Many wondered how the bridge could have become so poorly maintained, with such shocking consequences. The Tecnodem scandal, and light it sheds on day-to-day Italian administration, may go some way to explaining these issues.

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